'Same old story': AB de Villiers & Chris Gayle rate RCB's performance in IPL Auction 2023

South Africa legend AB de Villiers has opened up on Royal Challengers Bangalore's performance at the recently-concluded IPL auction in Kochi. De Villiers said that it would give RCB a solid nine out of ten for their performance at the IPL 2023 auction. The former RCB player stated that he likes the look of the team and that it's just a matter of building on last year's performance in order to go all the way. Meanwhile, Chris Gayle, the explosive batter from the West Indies, also gave RCB's auction performance a high rating. He said that there is going to be a question mark on the middle order but still gave them an eight out of ten for their auction performance. 

ABD and Gayle rate RCB's auction IPL Auction 2023 performance

"I like the look of this team. They had a good season last year. They came close. It's good a balance and it's a good backup. They just need a couple of guys in form. It's the same old story I think when it comes to that. We need a couple of guys in that top order to fire. There's a lot of class in that lineup. I feel the bowling attack, Josh Hazlewood has been the best find. I really rate him. I think he is a quality class player. Very experienced. That's exactly what we needed over the last few years. It's just a matter of getting Maxi in form and someone like Rajat Patidar to make sure he continues with that kind of form and a few guys chipping around them. If Virat is in form, we are going to go a long way. Looking forward to seeing these boys perform. They have got a lot of confidence from last year and now it's just a matter of building on that and taking it all the way. It's a 9 out of 10 but they'll come close," De Villiers said on JioCinema.

"They were low on the purse as well so they couldn't actually get as many players they wanted and the actual player they wanted as well. Just a few question marks with the middle order as well. We know what Faf and Virat bring to the table and with Maxi fit, we know what he brings as well. So, it's still going to be a bit of a question mark in the middle order with a solid batter as well to help those guys take some pressure off those guys if they don't click as well so that's going to be key for RCB. With the bowling department, Josh obviously one of the key bowlers for them. Hasaranga you know fantastic bowler as well as number one in the world. I will give them an eight and hope they go all the way," Gayle said.

Players bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL Auction 2023

• Reece Topley
• Himanshu Sharma
• Will Jacks
• Rajan Kumar
• Sonu Yadav
• Manoj Bhandage
• Avinash Singh

RCB squad: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Dinesh Karthik, Akash Deep, Anuj Rawat, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Rajat Patidar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul, Suyash Prabhudessai, David Willey, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Reece Topley, Will Jacks, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Manoj Bhandage, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav.

Image: JioCinema